The Fault in our Left 4 Dead
by ellis4zoey
Summary: Zoey/Ellis fanboy trying to make a spin on the Fault in our Stars, but set in a Left 4 Dead post-zombie-apocalypse setting. I neither own Left 4 Dead nor the Fault in our Stars, and don't pretend to be a great writer. But someone might well be interested to know what happens at the end of John Green's magnificent book. I'll probably get hopelessly lost as usual :-)
1. Chapter 1

Here I was, sitting on a couch, in a house, in Savannah, next to him. We had only just gotten here this day. We had survived. The zombie apocalypse was over, what was left of humankind had to start over. And I was sitting next to him.

I knew him for several months now, we had met on a bridge, it turned out to have been the middle of the zombie apocalypse. My survivor group started out with four. Sometimes we were five, then four again. Then three. And then he showed up, with three others.

The seven of us fought through seemingly endless hordes of zombies. Seven became six, then the two of us were separated from the rest. We were attacked, I was badly wounded. I had begged him to leave me behind, grievously wounded as I had been. I had wished for release. When I woke up in the hospital I immediately realized he had saved me. Literally.

We sat awkwardly next to eachother, on the aforementioned couch. His mother, who had also survived, though in a separate group, had already gone to bed. He turned to me and began a conversation. I remembered when he told me his name was Ellis. And how he had kept me warm during the cold nights in various safehouses.

Ellis: "I guess there's much we need to talk about, I would love to learn some more about you".

Me: "I told you most of it already, college, parents divorced, then zombies and..."

He didn't let me finish my sentence.

Ellis: "That's your zombie apocalypse story, you told me already. But I wanna know more about your story. The stuff you like, movies you've watched, your favorite color and all that. Who you are behind the facade of the college girl who'se good at shooting pistols and killing zombies."

I looked at him. His goofy grin betraying some of the feelings he'd already confessed he had for me. And yes he was handsome. Twenty-three years of age, four years my senior. I kept asking myself why I was here with him. Maybe deep down I already knew the answer, I just didn't realize it yet.

Me: "What do you want to know? I like movies, well I did like them, but mostly action movies. And video games, first-person-shooters."

Ellis: "Any movie you would recommend?"

Me: "I liked Alien, and anything by George Romero, though maybe not anymore, considering what happened and all that, I don't think I'll ever watch a zombie movie ever again."

We were sitting only a few inches away from eachother, yet he had found the room to put his hand on the couch between us, hoping perhaps I would grasp it. I wanted to, but I didn't, why not I didn't know.

Ellis: "Me neither, not that I ever watched them, mom always preferred I play outside rather than sitting behind the TV or playing computer games. Anyway, me and my buddy Keith were usually outside."

Me: "Do you have a favorite book?"

Ellis: "I never really read a lot of, well there is this one book I liked."

Me: "Tell me."

Ellis: "I must have read it a dozen times already, it's the authorized autobiography of none other than JIMMY GIBBS JUNIOR himself".

I searched my memory if I had ever heard of this Jimmy Gibbs junior, but came up blank.

Me: "Who's Jimmy Gibbs?"

Ellis: "You mean to tell you've never heard of Jimmy Gibbs junior? Jimmy Gibbs junior is the MAN! I don't know anyone like him, the greatest stock car driver of all time, of ALL TIME I say."

Me: "Okay, sorry, I didn't follow stock car racing at all".

Ellis: "Saying that Jimmy Gibbs junior is famous around here is like saying you are the purdiest girl I ever met, I mean it is totally true and then some."

I blushed, even though by now I was used to his ceaseless complements. I never thought of myself as pretty, or 'purdy' as Ellis always said, but I could see in his eyes that he meant it. His beautiful baby blue eyes.

Me: "Okay, I will read this book about Jimmy Gibbs, the greatest stock car driver that ever lived".

Ellis: "You can have my copy, I mean the one signed by the man himself."

So there I was, promising to read a book about someone I never heard of, it being the favorite book of a young man I barely knew. That was the consequence of fighting through the zombie apocalypse side by side with a handsome young man. A young man who had fallen in love with me and asked me to stay with him when it was all over. An offer I accepted because I literally had nowhere else to go. Or maybe I had another reason.

Me: "How many pages is it anyway?"

Ellis: "Hundreds, and every one of them more interesting than anything else I ever read. You'll even find out about his favorite colors and stuff".

Me: "Okay, I'm really looking forward to it".

I wasn't sure I meant that.

Ellis: "You tell me what your favorite book is, so we can then read eachother's".

Me: "You wouldn't like it.

Ellis: "How can I know if I didn't read it".

Me: "It's kind of a tragic love story".

Ellis: "I'll read it".

And he meant it. I was kind of embarrassed because my favorite book was so out of character for me. I had never really liked fluffy romance things, action games and movies being more my thing. But once my friend Fiona introduced me to this book, I read it and I loved it. I read it over and over again, and even spend a lot of my free time thinking about it. Ellis seemed pretty insistent so I thought what the heck, why not?

Me: "He's really a wonderful author, and from what I know about him a really nice man. He's one of the few people I've actually always wanted to meet".

Ellis: "What is this book called?"

Me: "The fault in our stars, by John Green".

Ellis: "I'll find a copy and read this tragic love story, and then I'll tell you what I think about it".

From what I knew about Ellis he was more of the romantic type than I was, so maybe he would like it. But would he have the patience to read it? It wasn't about stock car drivers, after all. I was getting tired.

Me: "We should go to bed".

Ellis: "Yeah, you can sleep in my bed and I'll sleep on the couch."

Me: "No you won't, its quite cold and I need you to keep me warm, and as my fiancé that is part of your job now".

Ellis just blushed, remembering that he'd blurted out _the question_. I had woken up from my coma in the hospital, he was there, and he had wasted no time. And that was why I was here. I had said _yes_. So here we were, still on the couch, about to go upstairs, to spend our first night together in his bed. A real bed, not a mattrass or bunk like in all those safe rooms.

I wondered how it would feel, though one thing I already knew. It would be warm. And the feminist in me had given up trying to resist the young woman in me that so craved this warmth. It was a special warmth, and I wouldn't miss it for the world. Though awkward it was, still, both for me as well as for him.

But above all I wondered if Ellis would like my favorite book. I looked outside for a brief moment before we closed the curtains, the stars were very bright. There was no fault in them, not this night.


	2. Chapter 2

I learned a lot of things in my first week with Ellis in Savannah. I learned that sleeping in his arms was comfy and warm. I learned that Ellis and his friend Keith were trying to rebuild the car repair shop they had worked at before it all happened. But above all, I learned that Jimmy Gibbs jr had won his first Super Cup in 1977, by a one point difference, on account of winning at Daytona.

The idea of a bunch of guys driving around 500 miles in a circle had never impressed me. My dad had liked watching autosports, but I never did. I got through the first few chapters of the Jimmy Gibbs autobiography pretty quickly. I'm convinced that the book must have had a ghostwriter, but I'm not going to mention that to Ellis, it might break his heart.

Every day I am helping Ellis's mother with her cleaning business, it's quite nice and gives me something to do, and I don't intend to sit at my new home doing nothing. But I don't intend to do this for the rest of my life.

Ellis is still getting used to the idea that I'm not a fragile doll who needs a protector. I love how he's a romantic giving me all the attention he can give, but he can be a little too protective at times. Anyway, being with me seems to give him a sense of stability, or at least that's the impression his mother is getting, what she told me. But of course I do let him put his arms around me, whether in bed or on the couch.

I would like to know if Ellis likes my book. I saw him read it earlier this week. I wonder if John Green is still alive. I would like to ask him some questions. What happens to the characters after the end of the book? I mean, apart from Gus obviously. Does Hazel live much longer? I would like to know, but knowing my luck John Green is probably dead. "The fault in our stars" will, however, remain my favorite book.

So far I haven't heard from anyone I knew before. Maybe my friend Fiona is still alive, I know she lived in Wisconsin before we shared a dorm room, I'll go to the National Register to try and find out. And maybe about John Green too. Ellis says he and his mother are going next monday, so I'll join them.

And I can hear Ellis coming in now to pick me up. We'll drive home tonight, for we have decided that friday nights are going to be our movie nights. The local TV is showing an old classic called "An imperial affliction" so we'll watch that. I've never seen it and apparently it is quite good. I just hope it isn't too much of a sappy mushy love story because I'm more into action movies.

Ellis: "Are you coming, angel?"

Me: "I'm already ready, let's go."

Ellis: "How was your day, is my mom being nice to you?"

Me: "Yes she's very sweet, and she showed me your baby pictures."

Ellis started blushing again, and I'm getting quite used to that now. We got into his car and he drove us home. He cooked a TV dinner for us, the fried chicken being especially nice.

Ellis: "Are you coming Zoey? The movie is gonna start."

Zoey: "I'm already here, I just changed into something a bit more comfortable."

Ellis: "So how do you like Jimmy Gibbs? He's awesome isn't he?"

Zoey: "It's very interesting, especially about the sprint to the finish at 1977 Daytona."

Ellis: "I've seen the tape of that a thousand times already, even though I wasn't even born when it happened. Every time it surprises me that Jimmy manages to get past those three cars on the last two laps."

Zoey: "I'm sure you'll show it to me some time. Anyway how do you like my book?"

Ellis: "Halfway already, it's really different from any book I ever read, or the teachers made me read. I like this writing style a lot. I can't wait to find out the ending."

I'm hoping Ellis won't be disappointed. He is a romantic after all, and I'm not sure that he likes tragic endings, and the book kind of ends quite tragically. The movie is getting a bit tragic as well. I put my head on Ellis's shoulder. I'm not sure either of us is watching intensely.

Zoey: "Ellis, there's something I need to tell you."

Ellis: "Anything, Zoey, I'm all ears."

Zoey: "Do you remember when our survivor group got to that CEDC building? The one where we stayed for four weeks?"

Ellis: "I don't think I'll ever forget."

Zoey: "I did sort of trick you, remember? We got there, and the guy showed all of us the rooms we could stay in, and then told us we could have a shower, half an hour each."

Ellis: "You asked me to show you where the shower rooms were."

Zoey: "Sorry for lying Ellis, I knew where they were all along. I admit the idea to do what I did had come to me in a split-second. I just wanted it and I knew you wanted it too."

Ellis: "True, I did want it too. It took a while for the penny to drop for me, though."

Zoey giggled, she remembered very well indeed. Ellis could sometimes be totally oblivious to some things, until they suddenly hit him in the face.

Zoey: "You were as amazing as anyone could have been. You did all the right things, once you stopped being nervous. But even now it seems so unlike me to have done what I did. I'm not the kind who gives herself to anyone she meets."

Ellis: "Did I ever tell you how astoundingly beautiful you are?"

Zoey: "All the time, sweet El."

Ellis: "You're amazing, Zoey, but you wanted to tell me something?"

Zoey: "Yes, and this is quite unexpected, especially in light of how badly wounded I was, and I don't know how they missed this at the hospital."

Ellis: "Wait... what? Emm... I don't get it. Who missed what?"

Zoey: "The doctors did. Maybe they never thought about it, considering my wounds. And also, I missed it earlier too. I guess when you're trying to survive you don't pay attention to your monthly visitor, especially not when it stops visiting."

By now Ellis was looking totally puzzled and confused. Maybe I should stop talking in riddles. Okay, I am going to break it to him now.

Zoey: "When you were cooking, I was upstairs, not just to change clothes, but to test myself. It came out positive, I'm pregnant, with your baby."

Ellis just stared at me, his mouth falling open, he was gasping for air, trying to speak but words didn't come out, and then he fainted. I should have known. Minutes later he came to again. He stared at me. I was waiting to see what his reaction would be. He then put his arms around me and started kissing me all over.

Ellis: "It's so amazing, a baby? Really? Oh my gawd I can't wait to tell everyone. Ain't nobody gonna believe this!"

He literally picked me up in his arms and started dancing through the room. I'm impressed at how strong he is physically. Yes he's gonna be a daddy, and I'm gonna be a mommy, and neither of us has a clue as to what to do.

Ellis: "If it is a boy, can we call him Jimmy? Or wait, we could name him Keith, after his sort of unofficial uncle. Or maybe name him after one of the Midnight Riders, or all of them. Give our boy a bunch of names. You know my buddy Keith once thought he was gonna be a father, but then it turned out the baby wasn't his, so he couldn't name it Lynyrd."

Ellis then rambled on for at least ten minutes. I got him to agree to not tell anyone just yet, I was going to get a checkup in the hospital first. But I could tell he was excited, very much. And he loved the idea of a family with me. I think me might fancy himself a stay-at-home-daddy. Well who knows?

Zoey: "But one thing you failed to consider in your monologue, sweet El, what if our baby is a girl?"

Ellis: "Right... emm... Jimmy's not really a girl's name is it? I guess we could call her Ella, that's what my mom would have called me if I'd been a girl, but I wasn't so she didn't. Or we could call her Angelina, or Keira, or..."

Zoey: "Ellis, let's just wait for it to happen, shall we? I do love you very much."

Ellis: "Shall we go upstairs?"

And that's what we did, it was a bit early, but it was one of the nicest nights of sleep I ever had. I had told him the previous week I didn't need a protector. But I was now glad I had one anyway. One who was very good at keeping me warm at night.


End file.
